Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gbm5v Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-29T09:11:02.506Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Political Institutions and Human Rights: Why Dictatorships Enter into the United Nations Convention Against Torture

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 January 2008

James Raymond Vreeland
Affiliation:
Yale University, New Haven, Conn. E-mail: james.vreeland@yale.edu
Get access

Abstract

This article addresses a puzzle: dictatorships that practice torture are more likely to accede to the UN Convention Against Torture (CAT) than dictatorships that do not practice torture. I argue the reason has to do with the logic of torture. Torture is more likely to occur where power is shared. In one-party or no-party dictatorships, few individuals defect against the regime. Consequently, less torture occurs. But dictatorships are protorture regimes; they have little interest in making gestures against torture, such as signing the CAT. There is more torture where power is shared, such as where dictatorships allow multiple political parties. Alternative political points of view are endorsed, but some individuals go too far. More acts of defection against the regime occur, and torture rates are higher. Because political parties exert some power, however, they pressure the regime to make concessions. One small concession is acceding to the CAT.For detailed suggestions, I thank Rodwan Abouharb, Emanuel Adler, Lawrence Broz, José Cheibub, David Cingranelli, Jennifer Gandhi, Geoff Garrett, Valerie Frey, Stephan Haggard, Oona Hathaway, Darren Hawkins, Stathis Kalyvas, Judith Kelley, Paul Lagunes, Jeffrey Lewis, Ellen Lust-Okar, Nikolay Marinov, Lisa Martin, Covadonga Meseguer, Layna Mosley, Louis Pauly, Daniel Posner, Kal Raustiala, Dan Reiter, Darius Rejali, Ronald Rogowski, Peter Rosendorff, Mike Tomz, Jana Von Stein, Christine Wotipka, and especially the two anonymous reviewers. I am also grateful for comments from participants at the Kellogg Institute International Political Economy Seminar at Notre Dame; the UCLA International Institute Global Fellows Seminar; the University of Southern California Center for International Studies Workshop; the UCSD Project on International Affairs Seminar; and the Emory University Globalization, Institutions, and Conflict Seminar. For support, I thank the UCLA International Institute, the ETH Zurich, and the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© 2008 The IO Foundation and Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Abouharb, M. Rodwan, and David L. Cingranelli. 2006. The Human Rights Effects of World Bank Structural Adjustment, 1981–2000. International Studies Quarterly 50 (2):23362.Google Scholar
Abouharb, M. Rodwan, and David L. Cingranelli. 2007. Human Rights and Structural Adjustment. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Amemiya, Takeshi. 1985. Advanced Econometrics. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.
Arendt, Hannah. 1970. On Violence. New York: Harcourt Brace.
Bearce, David H., and Stacy Bondanella. 2007. Intergovernmental Organizations, Socialization, and Member-State Interest Convergence. International Organization 61 (4):70333.Google Scholar
Beck, Nathaniel, Jonathan N. Katz, and Richard Tucker. 1998. Taking Time Seriously: Time-Series-Cross-Section Analysis with a Binary Dependent Variable. American Journal of Political Science 42 (4):126088.Google Scholar
Beitz, Charles R. 2001. Human Rights as a Common Concern. American Political Science Review 95 (2):26982.Google Scholar
Bueno de Mesquita, Bruce, Alastair Smith, Randolph M. Siverson, and James D. Morrow. 2003. The Logic of Political Survival. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press.
Chamberlain, Gary. 1980. Analysis of Covariance with Qualitative Data. Review of Economic Studies 47 (1):22538.Google Scholar
Cheibub, José Antonio, and Jennifer Gandhi. 2004. Classifying Political Regimes: A Six-Fold Classification of Democracies and Dictatorships. Paper presented at the 100th Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association, September, Chicago.
Cingranelli, David L., and David L. Richards. 1999. Measuring the Level, Pattern, and Sequence of Government Respect for Physical Integrity Rights. International Studies Quarterly 43 (2):40717.Google Scholar
Cingranelli, David L., and David L. Richards. 2003. The Cingranelli-Richards Human Rights Database: Coder Manual (Version 2.1). Vestal, N.Y.: Binghamton University.
Committee Against Torture. 1989. Annual Report. New York: United Nations.
Dai, Xinyuan. 2005. Why Comply? The Domestic Constituency Mechanism. International Organization 59 (2):36398.Google Scholar
Davenport, Christian. 2000. Introduction. In Paths to State Repression: Human Rights Violations and Contentious Politics, edited by Christian Davenport, 124. Lanham, Md.: Rowman and Littlefield.
Davenport, Christian. 2007. State Repression and the Tyrannical Peace. Journal of Peace Research 44 (4):485504.Google Scholar
Downs, George W., David M. Rocke, and Peter N. Barsoom. 1996. Is the Good News About Compliance Good News About Cooperation? International Organization 50 (3):379406.Google Scholar
Elkins, Zachary, and Beth A. Simmons. 2005. On Waves, Clusters and Diffusion: A Conceptual Framework. Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 598 (March):3351.Google Scholar
Fearon, James, and David D. Laitin. 2003. Ethnicity, Insurgency, and Civil War. American Political Science Review 97 (1):7590.Google Scholar
Fein, Helen. 1995. More Murder in the Middle: Life-Integrity Violations and Democracy in the World, 1987. Human Rights Quarterly 17 (1):17091.Google Scholar
Finnemore, Martha, and Kathryn Sikkink. 1998. International Norm Dynamics and Political Change. International Organization 52 (4):887917.Google Scholar
Gandhi, Jennifer. 2004. Political Institutions Under Dictatorship. Ph.D. diss., New York University.
Gandhi, Jennifer, and Wonik Kim. 2005. Cooptation and Coercion of Workers Under Dictatorship. Paper presented at the 2005 Annual Meeting of the Midwest Political Science Association, April, Chicago.
Gandhi, Jennifer, and Adam Przeworski. 2006a. Cooperation, Cooptation, and Rebellion Under Dictatorships. Economics and Politics 18 (1):126.Google Scholar
Gandhi, Jennifer, and Adam Przeworski. 2006b. Authoritarian Institutions and the Survival of Autocrats. Unpublished manuscript, New York University.
Gandhi, Jennifer, and James Vreeland. 2004. Political Institutions and Civil War. Unpublished manuscript, Emory University, Atlanta.
Geddes, Barbara. 1999. The Effect of Regime Type on Authoritarian Breakdown: Empirical Test of a Game Theoretic Argument. Paper presented at the 95th Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association, August, Atlanta.
Gilligan, Michael J., and Nathaniel H. Nesbitt. 2007. Do Norms Reduce Torture? Unpublished manuscript, Department of Politics, New York University, New York.
Goodliffe, Jay, and Darren G. Hawkins. 2006. Explaining Commitment: States and the Convention Against Torture. Journal of Politics 68 (2):35871.Google Scholar
Green, Donald P., Soo Yeon Kim, and David H. Yoon. 2001. Dirty Pool. International Organization 55 (2):44168.Google Scholar
Hafner-Burton, Emilie Marie. 2005. Trading Human Rights: How Preferential Trade Agreements Influence Government Repression. International Organization 59 (3):593629.Google Scholar
Hafner-Burton, Emilie Marie, and Kiyoteru Tsutsui. 2005. Human Rights in a Globalizing World: The Paradox of Empty Promises. American Journal of Sociology 110 (5):1373411.Google Scholar
Hafner-Burton, Emilie Marie, and Kiyoteru Tsutsui. 2007. Justice Lost! The Failure of International Human Rights Law to Matter Where Needed Most. Journal of Peace Research 44 (4):40725.Google Scholar
Hathaway, Oona A. 2002. Do Human Rights Treaties Make a Difference? The Yale Law Journal 111 (8):19352042.Google Scholar
Hathaway, Oona A. 2003. The Cost of Commitment. Stanford Law Review 55 (5):182162.Google Scholar
Hathaway, Oona A. 2004. The Promise and Limits of the International Law of Torture. In Torture: A Collection, edited by Sanford Levinson, 199212. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.
Hathaway, Oona A. 2007. Why Do Countries Commit to Human Rights Treaties? Journal of Conflict Resolution 51:588621.Google Scholar
Hawkins, Darren G. 2002. International Human Rights and Authoritarian Rule in Chile. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.
Hawkins, Darren G. 2003. Universal Jurisdiction for Human Rights: From Legal Principle to Limited Reality. Global Governance 9 (3):34765.Google Scholar
Henisz, Witold J., Bennet A. Zelner, and Mauro F. Guillén. 2005. The Worldwide Diffusion of Market-oriented Infrastructure Reform, 1977–1999. American Sociological Review 70 (6):87197.Google Scholar
Heston, Alan, Robert Summers, and Bettina Aten. 2002. Penn World Table Version 6.1, Center for International Comparisons at the University of Pennsylvania (CICUP), Philadelphia, Pa.
Huntington, Samuel P. 1968. Political Order in Changing Societies. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press.
Johnston, Alastair Iain. 2001. Treating International Institutions as Social Environments. International Studies Quarterly 45 (4):487515.Google Scholar
Kalyvas, Stathis N. 2006. The Logic of Violence in Civil War. New York: Cambridge University Press.
King, Gary, Michael Tomz, and Jason Wittenberg. 2000. Making the Most of Statistical Analyses: Improving Interpretation and Presentation. American Journal of Political Science 44 (2):34761.Google Scholar
Koremenos, Barbara. 2005. Contracting Around International Uncertainty. American Political Science Review 99 (4):54965.Google Scholar
Landman, Todd. 2002. Comparative Politics and Human Rights. Human Rights Quarterly 24 (4):890923.Google Scholar
Landman, Todd. 2005a. Protecting Human Rights: A Comparative Study. Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University Press.
Landman, Todd. 2005b. Review Article: The Political Science of Human Rights. British Journal of Political Science 35 (3):54972.Google Scholar
Lust-Okar, Ellen. 2006. Structuring Conflict in the Arab World: Incumbents, Opponents, and Institutions. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Mansfield, Edward D., Helen V. Milner, and B. Peter Rosendorff. 2002. Why Democracies Cooperate More: Electoral Control and International Trade Agreements. International Organization 56 (3):477513.Google Scholar
Martin, Lisa L. 2000. Democratic Commitments: Legislatures and International Cooperation. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press.
Meseguer, Covadonga. 2006. Learning and Economic Policy Choices. European Journal of Political Economy 22 (1):15678.Google Scholar
Mitchell, Neil J. 2004. Agents of Atrocity: Leaders, Followers, and the Violation of Human Rights in Civil War. London: Palgrave.
Moravcsik, Andrew. 2000. The Origins of Human Rights Regimes: Democratic Delegation in Postwar Europe. International Organization 54 (2):21752.Google Scholar
Neumayer, Eric. 2005. Do International Human Rights Treaties Improve Respect for Human Rights? Journal of Conflict Resolution 49 (6):92553.Google Scholar
O'Donnell, Guillermo A. 1979. Modernization and Bureaucratic-Authoritarianism: Studies in South American Politics. Berkeley, Calif.: Institute of International Studies.
Poe, Steven C., C. Neal Tate, and Linda Camp Keith. 1999. Repression of the Human Right to Personal Integrity Revisited: A Global Cross-National Study Covering the Years 1976–1993. International Studies Quarterly 43 (2):291314.Google Scholar
Przeworski, Adam, Michael E. Alvarez, José Antonio Cheibub, and Fernando Limongi. 2000. Democracy and Development: Political Institutions and Well-Being in the World, 1950–1990. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Ramseyer, J. Mark, and Frances M. Rosenbluth. 1998. The Politics of Oligarchy: Institutional Choice in Imperial Japan. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Raustiala, Kal. 2003. Rethinking the Sovereignty Debate in International Economic Law. Journal of International Economic Law 6 (4):84178.Google Scholar
Regan, Patrick, and Errol Henderson. 2002. Democracy, Threats and Political Repression in Developing Countries: Are Democracies Internally Less Violent? Third World Quarterly 23 (1):11936.Google Scholar
Reiter, Dan, and Allan C. Stam. 2002. Democracies at War. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press.
Rejali, Darius M. 1994. Torture and Modernity: Self, Society, and State in Modern Iran. Boulder, Colo.: Westview Press.
Rejali, Darius M. 2007. Torture and Democracy. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press.
Rosendorff, B. Peter, and James Raymond Vreeland. 2004. Democracy and Data Dissemination: The Effect of Political Regime on Transparency. Unpublished manuscript, Yale University, New Haven, Conn.
Russett, Bruce M., and John R. Oneal. 2001. Triangulating Peace: Democracy, Interdependence, and International Organizations. New York: Norton.
Simmons, Beth A., Frank Dobbin, and Geoffrey Garrett. 2006. Introduction: The International Diffusion of Liberalism. International Organization 60 (4):781810.Google Scholar
Sobek, David, M. Rodwan Abouharb, and Christopher G. Ingram. 2006. The Human Rights Peace: How the Respect for Human Rights at Home Leads to Peace Abroad. Journal of Politics 68 (3):51929.Google Scholar
Tomz, Michael, Jason Wittenberg, and Gary King. 2003. CLARIFY: Software for Interpreting and Presenting Statistical Results. Version 2.1. Stanford University, University of Wisconsin, and Harvard University. Available at 〈http://gking.harvard.edu/〉.
Wantchekon, Leonard, and Andrew Healy. 1999. The “Game” of Torture. Journal of Conflict Resolution 43 (5):596609.Google Scholar
World Bank. 2004. World Development Indicators on CD-ROM. World Bank.
Wotipka, Christine Min, and Francisco O. Ramirez. 2008. World Society and Human Rights: An Event History Analysis of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. In The Global Diffusion of Markets and Democracy, edited by Beth A. Simmons, Frank Dobbin, Geoffrey Garrett, 30343. New York: Cambridge University Press.